Impact of electoral violence on democratic governance and electoral credibility in Kogi state, Nigeria

This study examines the impact of electoral violence on democratic governance and electoral credibility in Kogi State, Nigeria. The study specific objectives are to examine the impact of electoral violence on democratic governance and electoral credibility in Nigeria. The study adopts survey research design. The population of the study is 4,473,600.This study employs scientific sampling technique determination of Krejcie and Morgan (1970) to arrive at a sample size of 384. Purposive sampling method was adopted as the sampling technique for this study. The study utilized primary data source. The primary data for this study was questionnaire. The questionnaire is designed in five Likert scale. Simple Ordinary Least Square regression was used to check the impact of electoral violence on democratic governance and electoral credibility in Kogi State, Nigeria. The study found that electoral violence has a negative impact on democratic governance and electoral credibility in Kogi State, Nigeria. The study concludes that electoral violence has remained a sour taste in Nigeria’s bid for democratic governance in Nigeria. The study also concludes that electoral violence discourages election of credible leaders and people’s participation in the electoral process thereby militating against electoral credibility in Nigeria. The study recommends for the need to reconstruct security architecture of the country, sanction political leaders, political parties and individuals that violate electoral laws, tackle the problem of arms proliferation and embark on political education and enlightenment that will encourage citizens to adhere strictly to democratic tenets. The study recommends for a reduction in the financial attractiveness of political offices, handing down of stiffer penalties to perpetrators of electoral violence by the government so as to deter others from demonstrating such acts in the future.